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Tuesday, 4 December 2012

COP18: No-one is immune to climate change -- rich or poor

As the UN Climate talks enter the second and final week, questions are being raised if this is just another conference. Will the Doha, the first Arab COP (Conference of Parties to UN Framework on Climate Change) save the world from adverse effects of climate change by getting countries to actually reduce the level of emissions? Or will the rich corporate lobbyists carry the day again?

Today, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon made a passionate speech calling on countries to act now or face the danger signs of climate change that are all around. Icecaps are melting at unprecedented rates, sea levels are rising; crop failures are more frequent due to erratic weather changes; thousands of people have been washed from their homes by floods and hurricanes; etc.

It is time for action and not giving in to the crumbs of dollars from big corporations unwilling to save the developing world from adverse effects of climate change. But as seen before lobbyists might carry the day with the poor nations accepting weaker concessions in the fight against climate change.

Read Ban's appealing speech at the opening of the COP18 high level climate talks. Now is the time for action; enough with rhetoric.

…hundreds of thousands of people washed from their homes in Mozambique;
Nigeria; Colombia; Peru, the Philippines; Australia....

From the United States to India, from Ukraine to Brazil, drought decimated
essential global crops.

Across the Sahel, from Mali to the Horn of Africa, tens of millions of people
endured another year of vulnerability, at the mercy of the slightest climate
shock.

No-one is immune to climate change -- rich or poor.

It is an existential challenge for the whole human race – our way of life, our
plans for the future.

We must take ownership. We, collectively, are the problem. Then we should
have the solutions.

Greenhouse gas emissions are the highest they have ever been.

We are in a race against time to stay below the agreed threshold of 2 degrees
centigrade above pre-industrial levels that will avoid the worst impacts of
climate change.

Every delay means greater future effort – or greater future harm.

Just this month, reports from UNEP, WMO and the World Bank again drew attention
to the growing dangers.

But they also sound a hopeful note by highlighting that we have the resources –
financial and technological -- to rise to the challenge.

They also conclude that acting now makes better economic sense than allowing
further delay.

That is why it is imperative that we act now, with urgency and with clear
purpose – both in these negotiations and in our countries, our cities, our
businesses, our homes.

Many of you have already started.

Policies and actions to take us into a sustainable, clean energy future are
being pursued more broadly and with greater determination.

But the pace and scale of action are still not yet enough.

We have a responsibility here in Doha to sustain the momentum for change so
painstakingly built in Bali, Poznan, Copenhagen, Cancun and Durban.

Addressing climate change is essential to sustainable development.

And your work is essential for addressing climate change.

I urge all Parties to work with a spirit of compromise – to take the long view
and avoid getting bogged down in minutiae.

Let us ensure that we stay on track for an effective, fair, ambitious and
universal climate agreement by 2015.

This week, I hope for five key deliverables by Governments here in Doha:

First, the adoption of a ratifiable second commitment period of the Kyoto
Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol remains the closest we have to a global, binding climate
agreement.

It must continue.

It is a foundation to build on. It has important institutions, including
accounting and legal systems, and the framework that markets sorely need.

Its continuation on 1 January 2013 would show that governments remain committed
to a more robust climate regime.

Second, progress on long-term climate finance.

This is critical to a meaningful climate agreement.

Fast-start finance expires soon. Developed countries must give their
clear indications that scaled-up climate financing will flow after 2012, and
that it will be commensurate to the goal of mobilizing $100 billion dollars a
year by 2020 from public and private funding.

Third, we must ensure that the institutions set up in Cancun and Durban to
support mitigation and adaptation by developing countries -- including the
Green Climate Fund and the Climate Technology Centre and Network -- are fully
equipped and effective.

Fourth, I expect governments to demonstrate, with no ambiguity, that
negotiations on a global and legally binding instrument remain on track.

And fifth, Governments need to show how they intend to act on the gap between
mitigation pledges and what is required to achieve the 2 degrees target.

The gap can be bridged. But time is not on our side.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let us speed up the transformation we know needs to happen.

Let us act even as negotiations continue toward a more robust climate regime.

Let us build creative partnerships that will drive courageous initiatives and
innovation.

Let us abandon apathy and embrace ambition.

Let us take inspiration from the solutions we see around us and from the
transformations that we know are possible.

Let us prove to future generations that we had the vision to see where we
needed to go, and the wisdom to get there. And I count on your vision and your
leadership.